Is Bedard reaching on Kampman?

Read here from Bedard’s latest jsonline post. Greg Bedard offers up the possibility that Kampman’s unwillingness to talk to the media may be an indication that Kampman is quite “uneasy” with his position change. Bedard notes that several times, Kampman has said he would interview and then ended up canceling. I do find it somewhat curious, like Bedard, that Kampman wouldn’t be willing to talk to the media about this. Kampman isn’t someone who shies away from media coverage. He doesn’t invite it either, but his refusal to speak is at least interesting.

However, I would be surprised if his refusal is due to having major problems with the switch to a 3-4. Kampman has done whatever he can over the years to talk about the team and to make it very clear that he is a team-first guy and not a me-first guy. If Bedard is right, that there is reason to worry about Kampman’s uneasiness with the switch, that would indicate to me that Kampman may be taking a selfish approach to this – concerned about how he’ll look, his upcoming contract discussions, etc. I doubt this. My guess is that he may just want to learn the scheme better and get to know the coaches etc better before going public. He has to know a ton of questions will be directed his way re the switch, so perhaps he just wants to make sure he knows what he’s talking about first.

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[…] blew off another chance to talk to the media, as Greg Bedard notes. The guys at Cheesehead TV and packergeeks have weighed in on the topic as well. I’m a little more concerned about Kampman than both of […]

I give Kampman kudos for not talking to the media. He’d say something, they’d twist it and it would come out as another Favre debacle. Reporters are pretty much self-important, pencil necked, loud mouths anyhow. Just turn the story over to that incompetent boob Mc Ginn and he’ll find two or three anonymous NFL execs to tell you what Kampman would say. The game is played on the field not on the reporters word proccessors.

It is funny Ron about how pretty much any article one reads these days, be it about sports, politics, or anything else aways quotes “sources close to the subject but not authorized to speak” or who “wishes to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter”. Seems to me that pretty much gives reporters a license to write whatever they want.

O also think (hope) Kampman’s just keeping his mouth shut until he feels comfortable enough with the system & new coaches to have something intelligent to say.

Look, Kampman was set to enter a contract year playing at a very high level for a 4-3 end. Those type players get PAID and this curve ball may very well cost him some serious money. It wouldn’t surprise me if he wants out to a 4-3 team but probably realizes that a trade isn’t going to happen and he is going to have to play out of position in his contract year. Here are his options: 1. He can go out and blather out some inane PR drivel that no one will believe. 2. He can go out and tell the truth and create a total media crap storm. 3. He can say nothing at all which gets the point across but doesn’t create the crap storm. It seems to me he is picking the best of the three options.

“The only explanation I have is that we all know Kampman to be a virtuous man. He has never lied to me, and I doubt any other reporter. If you ask him a question he doesn’t like or would force him to give an adversarial response, Kampman will simply say he would rather not comment on that.

Well he’s declining comment now, so he’s likely going with the “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” approach.

Of course, if I were asked to switch positions after seven years from one that I had mastered and had risen to Pro Bowl level in a contract year, and if my team didn’t seem eager to talk extension until they saw how I made this transition (which could end up costing me money if I flop), then I probably wouldn’t want to say much either.”